Florida could adopt Clean Cars Law

Florida is a step closer to lowering its greenhouse gas emissions, or GHG.

The Florida Environmental Regulation Commission adopted the Clean Cars Law Dec. 2 to control the amount of pollution cars are allowed to emit. About 40 percent of our state’s GHG emissions come from transportation. (This map shows you where it’s produced)

Gov. Charlie Crist began pushing this measure since July 2007, following California’s Clean Cars Law. The California law forces car makers to sell vehicles with limited GHG emissions and makes sure drivers take their cars for regular emission checks.

However, nothing is on stone yet; Congress will review this next March, and car makers are expected to do some intensive lobbing using the argument that drivers don’t want cars that emit lower GHG. (?)

The good thing is that environmentalists are ready to do some lobbing of their own and have an excellent point: car makers opposed to seat belts and air bags saying also that drivers would not buy cars with them. Let’s hope they impress our Reps.

If the legislation is finally adopted, car makers will be selling cleaner cars by 2013. Gov. Crist is not kidding, he wants to lower GHG emissions by 80 percent of what they were in 1990 before the year 2050.